Mark Dolan: Billions spent in Afghanistan were for nothing if it goes back to square one

Mark Dolan: Billions spent in Afghanistan were for nothing if it goes back to square one
Mark Dolan: Billions spent will be for nothing if Afghanistan goes back to square one
Mark Dolan

By Mark Dolan


Published: 14/08/2021

- 21:43

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 11:12

'The Taliban are weeks if not days away from key strategic gains and in a few months, this hard-won territory will be theirs once again'

As the United States and Allied forces leave Afghanistan, they relinquish more than just territory- they relinquish global security, strategic influence, the moral high ground and common sense. A quarter of a million people on both sides lost their lives, over two bloody and expensive decades.

Was it worth it? Only if we’d stayed. It has indeed been worth it up to now, given that the allied presence in Afghanistan has seen the restoration of human rights to the people of that country, and in particular towards women, who were previously abused tortured and enslaved by Taliban forces.


There are worrying signs that attacks on women have already ratcheted up in recent days. Go figure. The Taliban are weeks if not days away from key strategic gains and in a few months, this hard-won territory will be theirs once again.

Terrorists will overturn the secular government and the governments armed forces will fall. In one fell swoop, the world becomes a more dangerous place. What can you say about the mask wearing wokester in chief chief Joe Biden, whose first foreign-policy test as president has been to surrender to terrorists, renege on promises to the Afghan people and its military, and to ultimately render the streets of western countries like Britain and the United States permanently less safe.

The Taliban will pursue their evil actions and propagate their tyrannical ideology, in likely collaboration with Al Qaeda, Isis and with the potential tacit support of global bad actors with no interest in western security, like Russia and China. Not withstanding the security implications, it's also a tragedy for the Afghani people and will likely produce another migrant crisis.

Trump wanted out as well and he was wrong too. The departure of Western allies from this notoriously war-torn country, will be a moment to forget, and a moment to regret. Those billions spent, and those lost lives on both sides, were all for nothing and Afghanistan is back to square one.

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